Sukhbir Singh Badal has a clever expla­nation for the cold vibes among the leaders of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in Punjab. “Relations between our two parties are like that of a husband and wife. They don’t praise each other yet live together for life and help each other,” he said recently. Unwittingly, the deputy CM may have sparked off a fresh row. The BJP, it seems, doesn’t want to play the ‘wife’ in this marriage any longer.

ROYAL REGRET

by Sandeep Adhwaryu

.NOT INDlAN’AMERldAN
r AM AMERICAN

/ SIR….YOUR

EAIR& LOVELY CONSIGNMENT UAS ARRIVED EROM < \ INDIA /-■

LOOK BEFORE YOU LIP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to tread cautiously on his public speaking. His team of speechwriters is worried about policy inconsistencies in his speeches being picked up by detractors. The PM’s speeches will now be preceded by a briefing on what he has spoken on the subject in the past to ensure consistency.

JINXED

HOUSE

It’s been more than a week since Jitan Ram Manjhi vacated the Chief Minister’s official residence at 1, Anne Marg in Patna, demanding that Nitish Kumar now shift to his notified address. Kumar, who has continued to operate from 7, Circular Road, allotted to him as the former CM, has shown no inclination to oblige Manjhi. Whispers in the corridors attribute two reasons for Nitish’s reluctance. First, he seems to consider num­ber 7 auspicious for him. Second, 1, Anne Marg— having witnessed its two occupants quitting in two years—is surely not a place to shift to on the eve of the elections.

Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje,

now embroiled in a con­troversy over support­ing Lalit Modi, must be regretting her decision of not making a politi­cal issue over a media expose in 2011 that accused the then CM Ashok Gehlot of award­ing contracts and assets worth Rs 11,000 crore to firms with financial links to his son Vaibhav and daughter Sonia. After coming back to power in 2013, Raje even declined to investigate charges against officials close to Gehlot. Instead, she rewarded some with good offices. This was to avoid bad blood and focus on constructive work, she would say.

MINDYOUR LANGUAGE

With poll fever rising in Bihar, politicians have started shooting tongue scorchers